AS well as the main section of exhibits, the Frieze art fair also hosts a Focus section which showcases emerging talent from galleries from across the world that are under 12 years old. The talent present at the fair was phenomenal, but there were some stand-out booths and pieces. blank, Cape Town exhibits the Billie Zangewa’s collection titled Love and Happiness.
The works explore the moment of moving from a place of lacking to a place of fulfilment – the so called house of Love and Happiness, which is a reference to an Al Green Song. The pieces are made from silk off-cuts, then cut up some more and collaged into irregularly shaped wallhangings. These paintings give a glimpse of the reality of life as a black woman living in contemporary South Africa.
Billie Zangewa, Love and Happiness
A second highlight is Than Hussein Clark’s collaboration with GAN, a Couture Dressmakers studio, to create a bespoke fitting room which is reminiscent of 1920s or 1930s Paris. It is exhibited by VI, VII, Oslo, and could easily be walked past in the Focus section since it is so different from the other booths in the entire fair. It is very innovative for an artist to transform the booth itself into an art piece rather than exhibiting smaller pieces to a standardised, rectangular box.
Than Hussein Clark’s bespoke changing room
Than Hussein Clark’s bespoke changing room
Frieze week 2017 also had a new special section titled Sex Work: Feminist art and radical politics curated by Alison M Gingeras. This section pays homage to artists who have faced censorship and gender based discrimination throughout their careers, but have persevered with their vision and made a name for themselves with the help of certain progressive galleries.
Air de Paris presents pieces by Dorothy Iannone. Iannone is an American-born visual artist, but her art is heavily influenced by her experiences whilst travelling in places such as East Asia and Eastern Europe. Her work seeks to understand the world of love and ways of loving and she does this in a fun, colourful manner that blends text and imagery making very visually appealing, and almost humorous, pieces.
Dorothy Iannone, The Man who Became a Woman (1963) and Wiggle Your Ass for Me (1970)
Dorothy Iannone, A CookBook (2017)
Dorothy Iannone, Courting Ajaxander (1990)
Glass’ final highlight from the Sex Work section is David Lewis Gallery’s presention of work by artist Mary Beth Edelson, a pioneer of the first-generation feminist art movement. Alongside her performative photographs, David Lewis exhibits Edelson’s Woman Rising series where she transforms her gelatin prints into mythical creatures and groups them into wall collages alongside other images from nature, popular culture and art history. The visual effect of the collages is stunning, but they become even more interested once you see the details of the images used in the collage.
Mary Beth Edelson, Woman Rising (1973-4)
Mary Beth Edelson, Woman Rising (1973-4)
by Allie Nawrat
Frieze week runs from Thursday, October 5 until Sunday, October 8 at two locations in Regent’s Park – Frieze London and Frieze Masters. The opening times are 11am to 7pm Thursday to Saturday and 11am to 6pm on Sunday
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